1. Field of the Invention
Exemplary embodiments of the present invention relate to a liquid crystal display.
2. Discussion of the Background
A liquid crystal display that includes two display panels with electrodes and a liquid crystal layer interposed therebetween is a type of flat panel display being widely used at present. The liquid crystal display rearranges liquid crystal molecules of the liquid crystal layer by applying voltage to the electrodes to control the intensity of transmitted light.
Among the types of liquid crystal displays, a liquid crystal display primarily used at present has a structure in which an electric field generation electrode is provided in each of the two display panels. Among these, a structure in which a plurality of thin film transistors and pixel electrodes are arranged in matrix on one display panel (hereinafter, referred to as ‘thin film transistor display panel’) and color filters of red, green, and blue are formed on the other display panel and a common electrode covers a full surface thereof (hereinafter, referred to as ‘common electrode display panel’) is the mainstream.
However, in the liquid crystal display, since the pixel electrode and the color filter are formed on different display panels, accurate alignment is difficult between the pixel electrode and the color filter, such that an alignment error may be generated.
In order to solve the problem, a color filter on array (CoA) structure in which the color filter and the pixel electrode are formed on the same display panel is proposed. At this time, a shield member is generally formed on the same display panel as the pixel electrode in addition to the color filter.
Meanwhile, a spacer may be formed in order to maintain a constant thickness of the liquid crystal layer of the liquid crystal display. The spacer may include a main spacer controlling the thickness of a liquid crystal cell of the liquid crystal display and a plurality of sub-spacers formed lower than the main spacer in order to prevent a smear defect, etc. The main spacer and the sub-spacer form various height differences to maintain a cell gap even under various external pressures.
However, an exposure amount or a cross section of the spacer is controlled using the same layer so that the main spacer and the sub-spacer are formed to have a desired step. Through this method, it may be difficult to acquire the desired step and a process for forming the spacer may become complicated.
The above information disclosed in this Background section is only for enhancement of understanding of the background of the invention and therefore it may contain information that does not form part of the prior art that was previously known to a person of ordinary skill in the art.